


Darkness Rising

by TheBrothersRowe



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Be Ready For Feels, F/M, Multi, Original Character(s), Zombie AU, lots of main character deaths, powers still
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2020-01-15 05:14:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18492097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBrothersRowe/pseuds/TheBrothersRowe
Summary: After two attacks from the upside down, a secret lab that researched the upside down, a girl that could move things with her mind, the gang thought they had seen it all.





	1. Day 1

_ May 24th, 1985 _

 

“Come on, you know that move is bullshit!” Lucas called out, scowling at Dustin. “What’s bulkshit? The only thing bullshit is the your playing it safe!” Dustin exclaimed.

 

Steve let out an inaudible groan, rubbing his face. “How long have they been bickering?” He asked. Nancy took her hand out from under their sleeping boyfriend, who was adorably asleep on Steve’s lap, and checked the time. “About 15 minutes.” She responded.

 

“Can you hurry this shit up? Some of us actually wanna play.” Max remarked, folding her arms over her chest.

 

“Mike, you’re the game master-“ “Woah, I am not getting involved!”

 

Nancy shook her head, getting up. Steve couldn’t exactly go into Mom mode with Jonathan passed out on his lap. “Alright, if your gonna keep bickering then games over. Come on, clean up.” Nancy stated, putting her hands on her hips. All of the kids let out exaggerated groans. “Listen to Nancy.” Steve called from the couch, which resulted in more groans.

 

Despite their pleas, the kids cleaned up. It was for the best, as Max had to head home soon anyways. Something about her not getting a ride since her mother caught something from a co-worker, and Billy was too busy sucking face with some new hook up.

 

Will packed his things up, approaching the two boys on the couch. “Hey little man, your brother is quite fond of my lap at the moment.” Steve spoke, absentmindedly running his fingers through Jonathan’s hair. Will gave a small nod, looking at his sleeping big brother.

 

It was strange at first, when Jonathan sat him and their mom down to explain it. He was with Nancy, but Steve was also with them. Not something that you usually saw, but they were happy for him and still loved him. Which was good considering Jonathan looked ready to keel over and die.

 

“Jonathan, time to wake up. Games over.”  Will said, gently shaking his brother awake. This woke him up since he was a pretty light sleeper. Jonathan softly yawned, sitting up as he stretched. Steve smirked at his boyfriend, kissing his cheek, making Jonathan groan. 

 

“Gross.” Mike rolled his eyes, cleaning up the game. Jonathan got up, stretching. “Alright buddy, let’s go.” Will giggled as his brother hurried up the stairs. He knew his brother was just trying to escape the constant affection from his boyfriend and girlfriend. It was actually really funny to watch, considering how anti-social Jonathan was known to be, he always got embarrassed when they would pepper him with kisses, or other things.

 

“Bye guys!” Willy hurried upstairs after his brother. Jonathan was already halfway to the door, when Mrs. Wheeler walked over. “Thanks again for coming by, it’s always a pleasure when all of you are over.” She said, smiling at the two brothers. Jonathan gave a nervous nod, heading outside. His brother quickly followed, climbing into his brother’s car. “She still doesn’t know the three of you are dating?” He questioned.

 

Jonathan turned the car on, keeping his head low embarrassed. Will hopped into the back, Jane following him as she stretched. This was how it worked now honestly. Considering her ‘dad, and their mom were a ‘thing’ now, she hung out with them a lot more, which meant rides home, or to their house, with Jonathan.

 

After several seconds, he let out an embarrassed sigh. “No…” Jonathan managed to muster out, “I...Mrs. Wheeler still thinks Nancy is with Steve. Which isn’t wrong or anything...just…yeah.”.

 

Will leaned over the seat, patting his brother’s shoulder, “I’m sure you’ll be welcomed. Mom was cool with it remember?”.

 

That...was true. But...considering mom had gone above and beyond to get Will, it didn’t surprise him. Despite this though, it always felt like their mom...had...always paid more attention to Will. Jonathan never vocalized this though, it wouldn’t be fair to his mother after all. It...wouldn’t be fair….

 

Jonathan pulled the handle down to reverse, pulling out of the Wheeler’s driveway.  _ It wasn’t fair for him...but he’d push through it...he always did. _

 

“Come on kids, let’s get you guys home.” Steve opened his car door, letting Dustin, Lucas, and Max in. He didn’t mind being chauffeur, it gave Jonathan a break. Though this resulted in his new nickname from the group… mama Steve.

 

He didn’t mind the drive, it was easy to forget Hawkins was a hell of a beautiful town. It might be small and full or other dimension monsters, but damn it was nice.

 

“Stop here.” Max suddenly said after nearly half an hour. 

 

The teen lifted his head up, slightly confused, making her sigh in annoyance. “If Billy sees me with you of all people, he’ll lose his shit like always.” Unfortunately, her lesson with him didn’t last that long. It was nice while it lasted though.

 

Steve looked at the girl with concern, then farther down the road to where her house was. “You sure you’re going to be okay? You know you can call me if you need anything, you got that right?” He asked, glancing up to the house with concern. He recognized the douche’s car from a mile away.

 

“I know that, mom.” Max took her stuff from his car, and was already heading down the road before Steve could stop her. “Fucking kids.” He groaned, pulling out of the street and driving off.

 

Max walked up to the house, raising a brow in confusion to hear yelling. Picking her pace up a bit, the girl saw Billy and her step-father arguing. Summer was even there to her surprise, standing by Billy’s car for some reason. It looked like a really heated argument, part of her wanted to turn around and run after Steve’s car.

 

“Hey! Someone wanna tell me what the hell is going on?!” Max yelled as she approached the house, catching her step-brother and step-father’s attention. “Max, where have you been?!” Billy yelled, getting his arm grabbed by his father. Max swallowed nervously, feeling frozen in place.

 

Before any of them could do anything, there was a loud scream, catching the groups attention. They all turned to the door, seeing Max’s mother standing there, but something was wrong, really wrong.

 

Blood stained the front of her dress, and her eyes were a milky white.

 

“MOM?!” Max exclaimed, her eyes wide seeing the state of her mother. All she had was a simple cold, what happened?!

 

“Susan, I told you to stay in bed.” Neil stated firmly, slowly approaching the woman. “What are you doing?! We need to get her to a damn hospital!” Summer exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. Max ran over, standing beside the car in fear. Something was wrong, really really wrong. “M-Mom…?” She asked nervously.

 

What happened next shocked them all. Susan let out a feral growl running forward and jumping onto Neil. “Jesus!” Billy stumbled back, nearly falling off the stairs, “Shit!”. Screams left the two girls, watching in absolute horror as Susan tore a chunk right out of the stunned Neil’s face. 

 

Billy swung the front door open, climbing into the driver’s seat. Summer grabbed Max around the torso, pulling her into the car, which took time due to the girls struggles. “GET IN THE FUCKING CAR OR YOU’RE GETTING LEFT BEHIND!” Billy screamed out. After some struggle, Summer had Max buckled in.

 

“Floor it!” No need to tell him twice. Billy slammed his foot on the gas pedal, speeding out of the house and down the streets.

 

Little did they know, this was just the beginning. And it wasn’t just happening to them.

 

“Jonathan, did you see that guy out there?” Will suddenly shouted, almost making Jonathan swerve in panic.

 

“What the hell, Will..?! Scared me half to death..!” Jonathan called out, to which his brother ignored, staring out the window as he tried to figure out the man he saw. It was strange to see people this far out of Hawkins just standing on the road side near the forest, but something about him...it creeped him out. Jane also looked back as well, sitting silently in the back with the youngest Byer brother.

 

Mike and Nancy stood quietly by the window, watching several police cars and an ambulance pull up into the neighbors house. “What do you think happened?” Mike questioned. Nancy could only give a concerned shrug, both flinching when their mother shouted for them to get away from the windows.

 

Steve drove to Dustin’s house, silently looking at the parked car in the middle of the road, and saw someone on the floor. “Get inside, Dustin.” Steve leaned over the passenger seat, and picked up his nailed bat. Before Dustin could complain, Steve climbed out of the car wielding the bat, making his way over to the inactive car.

 

“I’m home, what’s-” Lucas paused as he entered his home, looking shocked to find it empty, “Mom? Dad? Erica?”. No responses. Putting his bag down, he walked deeper into his house, looking for any sign of his family. Much to his horror, the floor leading to his parents room had bloody footprints.

 

“We’re getting more calls, Chief!” One of the deputy’s announced. Hopper pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. It felt like this town was going to Hell all over again.

 

And in more ways than one, it was.


	2. Hawkins Was Never A Normal Town

“I know I saw someone, I know it, Jonathan.” Will said, looking out the window with Jane. Where had the man gone?

 

“Injured. He was injured, blood.” Jane spoke, looking over to the front seat where Jonathan sat, “He needs help.”. She was slowly catching up on her language, making it easy for her to be ready to join the school program next year. It really excited her despite Max mentioning multiple times how boring school was.

 

Jonathan glanced back a second, “Will you two sit down already? There’s no one out in this hour.”. The teen turned back to the road, letting out a horrified gasp as he saw a figure in the road. “Jonathan!” Will exclaimed.

 

Seeing no other option, he swerved. Unfortunately, it had rained the previous day, causing the tires to spin out. The car spun across the wet ground, spinning out of control until it hit the trees on the side of the road, knocking them all out.

 

“What is it?” Dustin shouted from the car, getting a scowl from Steve, “WHAT? I’m curious!”. Steve rolled his eyes at the younger boy, making his way over to the still body. “What the fuck happened to you..?” Steve asked, poking the body with his heel. Before he could examine the body more, he heard a loud honking noise.

 

“JESUS CHRIST!” Steve looked up just in time, staring forward like a deer in headlights, which he felt in a sense due to the blinding lights. The car stopped mere centimeters away from the teen, nearly plowing into him. “Are you okay?!” Dustin shouted from Steve. The boy let out a quaky breath, staring at the car.

 

The driver’s seat door swing open, and out came fucking Billy Hargrove. “Harrington, you almost hit my car!” The blonde snapped. “You almost hit me with your car!” Steve yelled out, glaring at the blonde.

 

Max stepped out of the car, pinching the bridge of her nose. All of this was fucked up. “What’s going on? Why are you guys out this late?” Summer asked, looking at the body hesitantly, “ Some really weird shit is going on.”.

 

“What kind of weird shit?” Dustin questioned, getting a glare from Steve. Why did none of these fucking kids listen?

 

Billy let out a scoff, looking out the window of his door, “Step aside asshat! We got places to be, people are eating each other’s faces. Everything’s falling apart! Hell, Max’s mom jumped my dad and tore him open after we thought she died!’. Steve looked at him stunned, then turned to face Max. “Max...is that…”

 

Before the girl could answer, the girl could respond, the thought to be dead person moved, latching onto her leg. “AHHHH!!!” Max screamed in absolute terror, falling back as the creature pulled her onto the ground.

 

“Jesus!” Billy exclaimed, climbing out of the car stunned. Max screamed in panic as it tried to bite her leg, but before it could sink its teeth into her leg, Billy had rushed up, crushing the monster’s head with the heel of the boot. Max stood up, trembling in terror, “What the fuck?!”. Steve opened his mouth, but yelled as it moved again, resulting in him bashing the monster’s head open.

 

“What the hell was that thing…?!”

 

Joyce passed anxiously in her house, staring at the phone. Where were the boys and Jane? Shit, Hopper wasn’t picking up anymore. No one was! The mother paced around the house, rubbing her hands anxiously. “Where are they….?” She whispered out, looking to the door.

 

Jane let out a pained groan, waking up to the sound of beeping. Really loud beeping. Opening her eyes slowly, she looked around, surprised to find the car damaged. Glass from the from window and driver’s side window were completely busted. The front of the car had been pushed in, as it struck the trees hard.

 

Glancing around, she heard a weak groan of pain. Will sat up startled, taking deep breaths, looking around wide eyed. His eyes fell onto Jonathan, gasping in horror.

 

The teen laid face forward across dashboard of the car, a worrying amount of blood staining the area where his head rested. His body was leaned forward, pressed against the steering wheel causing the beeping.

 

“Jonathan? Jonathan?!” Will took off his seat belt, climbing into the front of the car, his breath hitching in fear, “Jonathan?!”.

 

There was no response, and it terrified him. Jane noticed how much he trembling and leaned forward, unbuckling Jonathan. Using her powers, she sat the teen up. Will gasped, seeing the blood running down his brother’s face and down his shirt. “Hurt.” Jane muttered, placing two fingers against Jonathan’s neck. Hopper taught her some basic things over the years, CPR and checking for life being one of them.

 

A breath left her feeling a small pulse against her fingers. It was weak, but it was there. “Home.” Jane spoke. “How? Jonathan’s unconscious and the car is-” Will shut up at the car pulled back from the tree, the only working light showing the dark roads. “Home.” Jane spoke once more, blood running down her nose. Will slowly nodded, letting Jane take care of getting them home while he tried to slow the blood flow from his brother.

 

“We’re only going to be gone a few minutes.”, “You can’t just go outside, it’s crazy outside!”. “Listen to your mother dear, I’m sure the media is just over reacting like always.”.

 

Mike ignored the bickering, sitting silently on the stairs as he held his walkie talkie. “Guys...if anyone’s on this frequency… let me know, please.” Mike asked, hoping for someone to respond...yet there was nothing. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he pushed the antenna of his walkie down, and headed upstairs.

 

The door downstairs slammed shut, yet he heard nothing. Mike made his way into his room, closing the door behind him. Making his way to his bed, the boy looked around his room, taking everything in. This room had everything, it had been his home since...since the beginning… funny how always in the end you start dwelling on the past and shit.

 

Shaking his head, he laid down on his bed, leaning forward to turn the light off, and let himself be taken by the darkness.

 

“We need to get the hell out of this town!” Billy exclaimed. “Oh, you want to run now?” Steve scoffed. “Yeah dumbass, some weird shit’s going on, and you’re fucking mental if you want to stay here. Come on you two, get in the car.” Billy stated, climbing into the driver’s seat. Summer gave the two an apologetic look, before climbing into the passenger seat of Billy’s car.

 

Max stood silently in the road, eyes boring into the dead creature. “Hey! I said get in the fucking car!” Billy shouted, making her flinch.

 

Taking a shaky breath, the girl turned around, shaking her head. “I’m staying with them.” She stated, to which Billy scoffed. “Have fun fucking dying!” Without another word the teen started the car, speeding off down the road.

 

“Asshole.” Steve grimaced watching him go, before turning to the kids, “Come on...let’s get into my car.”. Dustin slowly nodded, reaching out for Max. The girl shrugged Dustin off, making her way to the car. Steve winced hearing the car door slam shut, trying not to think if she damaged anything in her fit.

 

Climbing into the back, Dustin pulled out the walkie, extending the antenna. “Guys, if you can hear me, meet us at the Byers house. Some weird shit is going on, and Hawkins isn’t safe anymore.”.

 

Then again...when had it ever been safe…?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will do multiple perspectives until everyone is together again. If that's annoying or hard to read, let me know and Ill work with it.


	3. True Coming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit to the plot: Joyce is unaware of Jonathan's relationship with both Steve and Nancy, but will find out over time.

“Jane slow down!” Will shouted as the car nearly drove onto the porch, taking deep breaths as it skidded to a halt. Never...let her drive again, even if it’s her powers. Taking a deep breath to calm down, Will unbuckled himself just as the front door swung open.

 

“Where have you-Oh my god!” Joyce rushed over to the damaged car, her eyes wide as saucers, “What happened?!”.

 

“Crash.” Jane simply said. Joyce swore fiercely under her breath, before hurrying to the driver side door. “Hold on baby, mom’s here now.” Joyce whispered, helping the unconscious teen out of the car with Will and Jane’s help, “Careful for his head…!”.

 

After some difficult maneuvering, very difficult considering Jonathan was a whole foot taller than his mother, they managed to get him a solid two inches! In the end all three agreed Jane should use her powers to get the injured teen inside. Joyce followed anxiously, worried if he’d hit anything. Thankfully he didn’t, and Jane laid him out on the couch.

 

Taking a wavering breath, mom mode kicked in. “Will, go grab the first aid kid, along with some rags to cover his head. Jane, you rest sweetheart, okay?” Joyce explained, to which both the kids nodded.

 

Watching Will run off, Joyce turned her attention to her oldest child. A soft whimper left her, cupping his cheek gently to tilt his head closer to face her, and to get a better look at the wound. The cut was deep, and she swore she saw bone. Blood oozed from the nasty cut, terrifying her. There was just so much of it. She wasn’t a nurse, what if she couldn’t slow it down.

 

“Damnit Joyce Byers, get a hold of yourself..! Your sons need you, you cannot break down..!” Joyce spoke to herself, shaking lightly. 

 

_ But...what if they didn’t stop the blood flow..? _

 

“Mom?” Will’s voice thankfully snapped her out of her thoughts, making her sigh in relief. “Thank you sweetheart, I’ll take care of this.” Joyce spoke in a calm voice despite her worry, and turned to focus on Jonathan. Through the entire ordeal, he had remained unconscious, the only signs of him being alive were his soft breaths and weak pulse.

 

Gently lifting his head up with a pillow, Joyce began to clean the wound up best she could. “It’s going to be okay baby...mom’s here, I’m right here.” She spoke gently. Jonathan probably couldn’t even hear her, but that wouldn’t stop her. Joyce sniffled lightly, but refused to cry. “You’re going to be okay.” His brows knitted together lightly in discomfort as she gently dabbed the cloth against the wound, making the woman frown.

 

It was going to be a hell of a headache, along with the concussion. Shushing her eldest son lightly, Joyce wiped the blood off the wound, working on patching it up as it began to bleed some more. Being such a deep cut, it would definitely need stitches. Which she thankfully had basic skills in, meaning they would hold until they got him to a real doctor or someone more skilled.

 

Once the stitches were decent, Joyce taped a small bandage to her son’s cut, then secured it by wrapping some spare cloth around his head. “Okay, that should be enough for now.” Joyce sighed out, much more relaxed now that Jonathan wasn’t OOZING blood from his forehead.

 

Letting him rest, the mother got up nervously, taking a deep breath. She needed a smoke break, something to calm her nerves. “Will, Jane, stay inside.” Joyce stated in a motherly tone before going inside the house.

 

The two kids sighed aloud, looking at the unconscious boy. Will grimaced, going to his brothers side.

 

“Jonathan...if you can hear me please wake up. So much crazy stuff is happening and I’m scared. I need you.” Will took his brother’s still hand, the youngest’s lip quivering, “I need my brother.”. Jane sat by him, rubbing his shoulder with a frown, “It’ll be okay, Jonathan strong.”. Yeah...but that’s exactly why Will wanted his big brother.

 

Steve’s first instinct was to speed off to the Byer’s house. He needed to make sure Jonathan was okay. He knew Nancy was safe at home, which relieved him somewhat.

 

He was just so worried, if this guy was acting weird, what if other people were? Plus, in an ironic way, the Byer’s house seemed like the safest place to be. It was odd, considering that was where the Demogorgon took Willm, upside down shit occured, they were attacked by Demo-dogs, and other what not.

 

Joyce looked up in surprise as a car pulled up to her house, thankfully it was powered by a powerful child.

 

A sigh of relief left him when he saw Ms. Byer’s on the porch. That was until his eyes fell on Jonathan’s damaged car, his dark eyes widening. “Shit, shit, shit!” Steve hurried over to the porch, “What happened?”. Joyce looked up from her smoke break, frazzled as she saw more children showing up. Christ, what was going on anymore..?!

 

Stubbing out her cigarette, the mother ushered the three inside the house. Steve felt his breathing stop, staring at the still figure on the couch, his heart aching.

 

“Jonathan…” The teen gasped out, hurrying to the couch. Joyce looked a bit surprised, seeing how urgent Steve had reacted. She knew who this boy was, but she didn’t know why he was so worried for Jonathan, not that she wasn’t thankful. 

 

A weak groan left Jonathan, shocking the group.  “Jonathan?” Joyce hurried over, crouched down beside the couch. “Hey pal, what’s up?” Steve weakly smiled, going to take Jonathan’s hand, but stopped, putting his hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder instead. He knew that Jonathan wasn’t ready to tell his mother the truth about their relationship, to which he understood perfectly.

 

“Steve...mom…?” Jonathan managed to weakly rasp out, a glaze over his eyes. Joyce gae a weak smile, pushing her son’s bangs out of his face. 

 

“Mommy’s here sweetheart, I’m right here, don’t you worry about a thing. Just rest up, everything is going to be fine.” She smiled at her son, running her fingers through his hair. Despite having a skull cracking headache, Jonathan smiled at his mother.

 

And for a while, things seemed good...that was until the walkie talkie switched on. “Joyce, this is Hopper.”. The group looked at each other stunned, then to the walkie.

 

Dustin walked forward, grabbing the walkie, and pulling up the antenna, “Chief, Chief that you?”. All the others watched anxiously, hoping for some sort of answer. A heavy sigh came from the other end, followed along with a chuckle. “You kids won’t believe this, it’s the goddamn zombie apocalypse. They’re all over, everywhere. All over the country, and even out of country”.

 

They all looked at each other wide eyed. For the third time in a two year span, the end of the world was coming, but this time it wasn’t the upside down. The gate was closed, so that was over with...but with this, they had no idea how to stop it.

 

“Chief, what do we do?”

 

“Survive.”


	4. House Byers

The group had fallen into a long silence, and no one had spoken a word since Hopper’s call.  _ Survive.  _ How could a simple word be so hard to comprehend?

 

Steve was the first to do anything. Standing up to go outside, only to return moments later with his bat. Joyce had been completely confused b the whole ordeal, what did it all mean? They had already survived so much! The demogorgon, the demo-dogs, even the shadow monster! They had already lived through so much!

 

Joyce hugged the walkie close to her, nestling it like it was some sort of baby. After that, there was no more noise. Hopper had gone radio silent, and it terrified her.

 

Jane stared out the window, nervously playing with the curls of her hair. Will glanced over, having stayed by his brother’s side. Seeing how she was acting, the boy got up. “Come on, it’s getting late. We should go to bed, you guys can sleep in my room.” Will said, catching the younger kids attention.

 

The three other kids nodded, following Will into his room. Joyce provided the extra blankets, giving the kids a worried look, “Do you need anything else?”. Once again she had been met with silence, making her shudder. Closing the door behind her, Joyce was shocked to see Steve carrying Jonathan into his room. “Do you-”, “It’s okay, I got him.” Steve reassured her as he walked to Jonathan’s bed, laying him down. She lingered for a moment, before returning to the living room.

 

A soft sigh left Steve, adjusting Jonathan’s pillows to better support his head. The injured teen gave a weak smile, rubbing his hand across Steve’s. “You treat me too well…” He managed to croak out.

 

This made a laugh leave Steve, smiling at his boyfriend. “Consider it me making up for being such an asshole to you.” Steve spoke.

 

“Stop that Steve…”

 

“No, no listen to me Jonathan. I was a dick to you.” Steve shook his head, caressing his love’s face, “God, if I had known how amazing you were, I would never have done that to you.”. Jonathan parted his lips, and Steve immediately knew he was going to deny the claim. Rolling his eyes, the better haired teen leaned forward, kissing Jonathan. His shoulders jerked lightly, but soon Jonathan pressed into it, moaning softly as Steve nibbled at his lip.

 

Whilst checking the windows, Joyce heard strange noises coming from her eldest sons room. Her motherly instincts kicked in, making her hurry over. Joyce went to open the door, when she saw them.

 

Jonathan managed to move his hand up to grip Steve’s hair, pulling him deeper into the kiss. Normally Steve would care how his hair looked, but damn, Jonathan made all his quirks loveable. Steve pressed deeper into it, biting at Jonathan’s lip some more. He wished he could be more fierce, he loved how red Jonathan’s face got when they made out, but he had to be gentle.

 

Steve finally pulled away, cracking a stupid grin, “Too much?”. The shorter teen rolled his eyes, before kissing his boyfriend, “Never.”. Steve smiled, running his fingers through Jonathan’s hair.

 

“Dork.”, “Tsk, coming from you Byers. Now shut up and get some rest before your mom knocks you out. We both know she would.”. Jonathan scoffed lightly, readjusting his position on the bed, “Only if you stay.”. A smile grew on Steve’s lips, “I was hoping you’d say that.”.

 

Morning came, and Steve was one of the first few up. Much to his shock, Lucas had arrived as well. The poor boy looked shell shocked, his clothes stained in blood. “God, what happened to you?” He asked. Max scowled at him, before turning back to Lucas. Steve grimaced, awkwardly putting his hands in his pockets. He looked at the time on the clock, sighing. 8:45AM. Normally the time Jonathan cooked breakfast, damn, his boy was a great cook.

 

Putting his hands on his hips, Harrington smirked. “Who wants to make breakfast?”.

 

Joyce was awoken to a burning smell, making her sit up in alarm. A soft hiss of pain left the mother as her back cracked, making her realize she fell asleep sitting by her son’s bed. Yawning softly, she kissed her eldest son, before going to investigate the smell.

 

Much to her dismay, but not much to her surprise, it was Steve leading the group. The group being Maxine, Dustin, Jane, Lucas?, and her sweet boy Will.

 

“What is going on here?!” Joyce exclaimed, seeing the teen and five kids panic over the burnt food. All of them turned around at the same time hearing Joyce yell, all of them wearing the same ‘Oh shit’ look on their faces.

 

Steve let out a nervous chuckle, fanning the smoke away with a towel as Max opened the windows up. “I-ehh! Can explain Ms. Byers!” Steve struggled to say with the smoke.

 

An exasperated sigh left Joyce as she walked over, taking the towel from Steve and fanning the smoke out the window, “Thank you for the effort kids, but next time come ask me for help.”. Joyce ignored the silent judging look from her youngest son, relaxing once all the smoke was out. “How about some cereal? Sound good, sounds good.” Joyce was already heading to the pantry, not wanting to deal with more smoke.

 

After at least 10 minutes of trying to feed all the hungry kids, breakfast had been distributed. Letting out a sigh as she sat down, looking at the children. God, they probably didn’t even eat dinner yesterday with the time the game had ended. As she looked around, her eyes fell onto Steve, silently watching him.

 

Last night was still fresh in her head, and the mother couldn’t help but wonder… how long had this been going on? How long had this hair sprayed tin can been stringing her son along? Steve was already dating Nancy, so was he just using her poor son as a way to get off or something like that?! Joyce had known Jonathan was into guys for a while now, it was motherly instincts. 

 

As mad as she was at Steve though, she felt bad. Over the past year and a half, her attention was solely on Will. Whether it be getting him back, watching him closely, or getting that monster out of him, she had somehow forgotten her oldest son. With how little they spoke now, it was no wonder he didn’t feel ready to tell her.

 

Rubbing her hands a bit, she finally spoke, “Hey Steve, can you and I talk for a second?”. He looked up a bit nervous, but nodded, “Sure thing Ms. Byers.”. Patting Dustin’s head, the boy followed the mother outside. 

 

The moment he got outside though, he was met with the fiercest glare he’s ever seen. “You have five seconds to explain to me what the hell you’re doing playing with my boys emotions before I kick you to the curb.”


	5. Talking About Romance

_ True fear. _

 

That is what Steve felt.

 

The teen nervously gulped, staring down at the enraged mother. He had no idea what to do, flinching as Joyce yelled at him, “Well?!”.

 

“M-Ms. Byers, I don’t know what you mean.” Steve stampered out. God, he knew the woman was fierce as hell, considering she fought through hell and back twice to protect her youngest son, but this was on a whole new level!

 

Joyce scoffed, folding her arms. “You don’t know? YOU DON’T KNOW?!”. Holy shit he was just digging himself a deeper grade wasn’t he? “I see you stringing him along like that, toying with his emotions. Where do you get off?!”.

 

“I’m dating Nancy and Jonathan, Ms. Byers!” Steve exclaimed, making the mother go quiet as she stared at him stunned. “Explain…” Joyce breathed out.

 

The kids peaked out the window, watching the two talk. “Hey, I bet my snickers bar that Steve is gonna die.” Dustin spoke. “I’ll add my Musketeers to that.” Will responded, having to stand on his toes to see what was going on. Even Chester wanted a peak, the dog trying to squeeze between the kids and watch.

 

“What are you kids doing…?” They all turned around with a scream, making Steve and Joyce run in. “Don’t yell…” Jonathan whimpered, holding his head.

 

“Jonathan, oh my god what the hell are you doing awake?!” Steve hurried over to his boyfriend, steading him. Jonathan looked at him sluggishly, not fully there. He was still in the same shirt from yesterday, which had a ton of his dried blood on it, and his jacket missing. “Hey, let’s get you seated, okay buddy? Had a lot of us worried back there Jon.” Steve said as he gently guided Jonathan to sit down.

 

Joyce relaxed slightly, seeing him sit. Jonathan had just been in a car crash, he didn’t need to be up and about so soon!

 

Dustin huffed, handing his candy to Max who cracked a small smile. “Pleasure doing business with you, Toothless.” Max said, getting a glare from Dustin.

 

Steve rolled his eyes at the kids, before to turning back to his half aware boyfriend. Seeing Jonathan stare off into space, Steve pushed his bangs back, looked at the blood soaked bandages. “Hey Jon, I’m gonna take your bandages off, okay? I need to change them since these ones bled through.” Steve explained. Jonathan looked at him dazed, nodding slowly.

 

With that response, Steve got to work. Taking out a small knife he always carried on him, Steve cut off the old bandages.

The teen grimaced at the bloody bandages, slowly peeling them off of Jonathan’s head. “Jesus Jonathan…” Steve whispered, looking at his boyfriend’s wound. The younger teen barely reacted, and it started to worry Steve. How bad was his concussion? The wound itself was pretty deep and nasty looked, but thankfully it wasn’t gushing out anymore blood.

 

Picking up the roll of bandages from the table, Steve got to work. Jonathan let out little noises of protest, but didn’t stop Steve from treating him. Steve’s hands moved with surprising grace and skill, making sure the bandages were secure but not too tight.

 

Joyce silently watched, her youngest beside her. “He’ll take care of him mom, I know it.” Will smiled. Joyce looked down at him, then two the boys. Slowly a smile crept on her face, and she nodded. It worried her at first of course, especially hearing of Steve’s colorful history of dating a lot of people quickly, and the fact she distinctly remembered he and Jonathan got into a fight. There were many things that worried her, but she trusted her son.

 

_ Plus, it was nice that Jonathan was finally happy with someone. _

 

A few hours passed, and there was nothing. Nothing from the radio, no calls from the phone, and nothing from the news. The connection was just gone, the power was still on thankfully.

 

Jane smacked at the television screen repeatedly, swearing under her breath. Joyce sighed from her spot at the dining room table, pinching the bridge of her nose. This little lady was learning a lot from Hopper, even his colorful language.

 

The silence was starting to drive them crazy. Bads things were happening, and they weren’t getting any goddamned answers.

 

Dustin, Lucas, and Will sat on the floor of the Byers’ boys room. The three groaned in aggravation as they got no reply from their walkies. “Hey Asshole, pick up, over.” Dustin spoke into the walkie talkie for the fourth time in ten minutes.

 

“Do you think Mike lost his?” Will questioned.

 

“I doubt it.” Lucas remarked, rolling his eyes. “Then what’s your plan dick?” Dustin scoffed. Will shook his head grimacing, he hated it when the group fought, it just made things worse.

 

Ignoring the two as they continued arguing, Will picked up his walkie talkie, pulling the antenna out. “Mike, if you can hear us, please respond. A lot of bad things are happening, and we need to know if your okay. Mike, respond please.” Will took a shaky breath, “Get to my house if you can...everyone’s waiting for you, over.”. There was no response, making Will silently put the antenna down again.

 

_ They had to hope for the best. _

 

Several days passed, and Joyce was terrified when she checked the kitchen. She hadn’t gone grocery shopping in a week, and with four extra mouths to feed, the little food they had left was quickly dwindling.

 

Quickly opening her drawers, the mother was able to find a map of Hawkins. “Oh thank you Mary and Joseph.” Joye let out a sigh of relief, opening the map. Skimming through each road and street, eventually finding what she needed. “Thank you Hawkins.” Joyce said, before folding up the map and putting it in her jacket pocket.

 

The dangers outside only grew worse. They thought they had seen everything, with the mind flayer, demogorgons, and upside down, it felt like they were ready for everything. They were wrong though, very wrong.

 

“Are you guys sure about this?” Jonathan weakly asked from the door, watching his mother approach her car. The teen rubbed his eyes a bit, groaning under his breath as Joyce took a gun from the glove box. She was definitely Hopper’s girlfriend. Lucas and Jane climbed into the car with her, there weren’t many options when there were only two teens and a single adult. Didn’t help that one of those teens was still suffering from a concussion.

 

“I don’t like it either sweetie, but we need food for all of us. Lucas has the radio, so if you need us at all, do not hesitate to call.” Joyce explained, kissing both of her boys on the forehead and hurrying to her car.

 

Jonathan let out a sigh, watching his mother drive off. Once she was gone, he headed back inside. It was probably best to rest anyways. Max silently watched the car leave, sighing heavily. First she watched her mom sink her teeth into her step dad’s face, then Billy and Summer ditched town, and now Lucas was heading back into town where a bunch of those undead creeps were.

 

Shaking her head, Max decided she needed to focus on something else. Leaning over the couch, she picked up a notebook from the coffee table, and started to write in it.

 

The others didn’t know about it, but she and Lucas were making their own zombie guide. Every time they learned something new about the undead, they would take notes. It was the best way to find a weakness to these things, and hopefully put an end to this nightmare.

 

Before she could start writing, the walkie sparked to life, catching her attention. Dustin rushed over, pulling out the antenna to speak, but he couldn’t get in a word as there was loud screaming on the line, along with Holly crying. All those remaining in the house looked over in horror.

 

“Party, party I really need you guys! Jane, someone please! They’re getting into the house, they’re-” the line went to static, all of them frozen in horror from Mike’s pleas suddenly going quiet.


	6. Danger Around Every Corner

“Steve, Steve, wait!” Jonathan struggled to stay in pace with Steve, the younger boyfriend still not fully healed. Steve ignored him, hurrying to his car, Jane right behind him. “Where are you going?!” Jonathan exclaimed in concern.

 

Steve only stopped at the door, opening it before turning to Jonathan. “I have to get our girlfriend.” He stated. Jonathan grimaced, jogging over. “Jon-” He was cut off by Jonathan pressing his lips against his own, “Don’t die on me…” Was all the boy could say, kissing him once more before pulling away. “I got too much to live for.” Steve gave Jonathan’s hand a light squeeze.

 

Saying one last goodbye, Steve drove off. “We shouldn’t keep splitting up.” Max stated, folding her arms over her chest, “It’s not safe.”.

 

“We gotta do it.” Dustin remarked. He agreed to it, but the boy was still worried. Yes, much to everyone’s shock, Steve Harrington had become a real big brother figure to Dustin, so of course he was fucking worried.

 

Those remaining sat inside the house silently. Jonathan sat on the couch, holding the walkie securely in his hands. There had been no responses yet, and it was driving him insane. The idea of losing one of them hurt enough...but to lose...lose both of them… He shook his head, his frown deepening.

 

Will walked to his brother, squeezing his hand lightly. “He’ll be okay. Steve’s been through worse.” Will softly spoke, making Jonathan smile a bit. Will wasn’t wrong about that, not at all.

 

Steve was a stubborn bastard,  _ and that was one of the many fucking reasons Jonathan loved him. _

 

Having the distinct feeling that it would be a long time before anyone else returned, the remaining kids pulled out some board games. Might as well play something fun.

 

...Jenga….they were playing Jenga.

 

It was something, but at this point it felt like they would rather be bored. The only noise in the air being Chester’s snores, the occasional humming from Will as he thought, or Max’s eye rolls. Max groaned aloud as Will thought out what block he was gonna grab. “Oh my god, will you just go?!” Max exclaimed. “Hey, I’m thinking out my move, don’t rush me.” Will scoffed, throwing his arms in the air.

 

Max shook her head, standing up quickly. “Where are you going?” Dustin asked, tilted his hat up to look at her.

 

“Out for a walk.” The girl stated, heading outside in a huff. The redheaded girl slammed the door shut behind her, making the group look at each other stunned. Jonathan attempted to get up too follow, but winced feeling a headache start. His younger brother quickly went to his side, leaving the other two boys in an an awkward silence. 

 

Chester barked, hurrying after the girl. An agitated grunt left Jonathan, the body rubbing his temples. “Damn kids…” Jonathan leaned back in the chair, rubbing his aching head.

 

Will grimaced, “Do you want me to get you anything?”. Jonathan shook his head, wincing lightly. Ignoring his brother, Will went to grab him some medicine. He didn’t care if Jonathan said it was fine, he knew better than that. His brother was still hurting from the car accident, and it wouldn’t stop him from trying to help. A soft sigh left Will as he saw there were no more pain killers.

 

“ _ I wish Jonathan would stop trying to do everything on his own _ .” Will thought, looking back into the living room.

 

Jonathan looked out the window, waiting for Steve. It’s been too long, it was making him so worried. Were Nancy and Steve safe? Did….did something bad happen to them..?

 

His heart beat began to pick up, the teen’s hands started to shake, his body trembling lightly. Shaking his head, Jonathan got up from the couch, hurrying outside. The youngest Byers watched in shock as his brother hurried outside. 

 

“What’s his issue?” Dustin asked, to which Will shrugged.

 

Jonathan walked through the forest, swearing under his breath.  _ Stay calm, you can’t lose it now…  _ The teen tried to calm himself down with positive thoughts but it didn’t work. He was good at comforting others, but never himself. Whenever his mother, brother, Nancy, or Steve were stressed, he knew exactly how to help them relax. Will loved listening to his mixtapes, his mom liked having her favorite food made, Nancy just liked having someone to talk to or be there for her, and Steve… well Steve just liked to drive around town, and sometimes farther.

 

_ “Steve, where are we going?” Jonathan asked, raising a brow. Steve kept quiet, his lips pursed together lightly as he drove. This concerned the Byers boy. Where was this going? _

 

_ Steve pulled up into a hilltop, smirking. “Holy shit…” Jonathan gasped out, seeing the view of Hawkins. It was fucking gorgeous to see the town in this lighting at this time. Of course it was the one fucking time he didn’t have his camera on him though. _

 

_ Being to mesmerized by the view, Jonathan hadn’t noticed Steve getting closer to him under his fingers were laced through his own. The smaller teen was startled, looking at Steve with wide eyes. “Steve, what are you do-” Jonathan tensed up as soft tender lips pressed against his chapped ones, lightly running along them. It took Jonathan a moment to realize it was a kiss. Steve Harrington was kissing him?! _

 

_ In the gentle connection of their lips, Jonathan tasted nothing sour or foul. No alcohol or drugs, in fact, all he taste was a sweet minty flavor-oh shit it was tongue. _

 

_ Jonathan pulled away, looking at Steve startled. “What are you doing dude…?” Jonathan gaped. Steve seemed pretty startled by this, his cheeks reddening slightly. Running his fingers through his hair, Steve looked at Jonathan. _

 

_ “This is me and Nancy’s spot. I know you like her Jonathan. I also know she likes you.” Oh god, did Jonathan accidentally break Steve and Nancy up with his crush? “And I...also like you.”.  _

 

_ Jonathan was stunned, staring at him like a deer in headlights. He didn’t know what do. So, Steve took lead once more. _

 

_ He closed the space between them, connecting their lips together again. Jonathan didn’t shy away this time, he just pressed deeper into the kiss, moaning softly as he cupped Steve’s cheeks. He wanted Steve, and he wanted Nancy too… so of course he was thrilled when he found out both of them wanted him too. _

 

Jonathan sighed to himself, looking up to the sky as he stopped walking. Their relationship wasn’t the most...traditional by any means, but as long as he had Nancy and Steve he could care less.

 

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” A loud scream snapped him out of his memories, the teen looked up startled to see Will and Dustin rush out of the house. “That was Max!” Dustin exclaimed, running through the forest. Jonathan swore, quickly chasing after them.


	7. Ended and dropped

Sorry folks, I ain't got much thought left. I got a differnet story though, don't worry. Sorry again, but this is being dropped.It's summer though, so all my other stories will be updated frequently


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